e to be plenty of them who
can speak a little English and show us the way to get down."

Returning as quickly as possible to the spot immediately over the
village, the officer gave a long, loud hail.

"_Below there, you sleepers!_"

The hoarse, shrieking notes of countless thousands of roosting
sea-birds, as they rose in alarm from their perches in the forest trees,
mingled with the barking of dogs from the village, and then came a wild
cry of alarm from a human throat.

Waiting for a few moments till the clamour had somewhat subsided, the
two men again hailed in unison.

"_Below there! Awake, you sleepers!_"

Another furious outburst of yelping and barking--through which ran the
quavering of voices of the affrighted natives--smote the stillness of
the night. Then the bright light of torches of coconut leaves flashed
below, nude figures ran swiftly to and fro among the houses, and then
came a deep-voiced answering hail in English--

"_Hallo there! Who hails_?"

"Two white men," was the officer's quick reply. "We cannot get down.
Bear a hand with a torch; we have lost the track." Then as something
flashed across his mind, he added, "Who are you? Are you a white man?"

"Yes. I am Tom Ledyard."

"Thank God for that! Send a light quickly. You and your people are in
deadly danger."

In a few minutes the waiting men saw the gleam of torches amid the trees
to their right, and presently a tall, bearded, white man appeared,
followed by half a dozen natives. All were armed with muskets, whose
barrels glinted and shone in the firelight.

Springing forward to meet him, North told his story in as few words as
possible.

Ledyard's dark face paled with passion. "By heaven, they shall get a
bloody welcome! Now, come, sir; follow me. You must need rest badly."

As they passed through the village square, now lit up by many fires and
filled with alarmed natives, Ledyard called out in his deep tones--

"Gather ye together, my friends. The son of the Slaughterer is near.
Send a man fleet of foot to Mout and bid him tell Nena, the chief, and
his head men to come to my house quickly, else in a little while our
bones will be gnawed by Charlik's dogs."

Then with North and Macy besides him, he entered his house, the largest
in the village. A woman, young, slender, and fair-skinned, met them at
the door. Behind her were some terrified native women, one of whom
carried Ledyard's youngest child in her arms.

"'Rita, my girl,"